One Christmas: Chapter 1
One Christmas: Chapter 1 is an extended play by American country singer LeAnn Rimes. Originally intended to be a three part extended play, these EPs were the first set to be released by Rimes that are not under the Curb Records label. It was released by Iconic Entertainment Group on October 28, 2014 but was released on October 27th, with the second was to follow in 2015 as well as the final was set to be released in 2016, entitled Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 respectively. A tour for the EP started in December of 2014. However, this changed and Rimes instead released a full studio album in 2015 entitled Today Is Christmas. Background When discussing the EP Rimes stated, "I made a Christmas record a long time ago, and this time, I decided I wanted to spread it out over three years so I didn’t have to stop making Christmas music. We had so much fun making this first EP. I tried to play around with it as far as things you don’t typically hear me do. A lot of the vocals sound very live, and it’s just a really cool piece of music. It’s very exclectic. It has a lot of soul, and it sounds really organic." Release The EP was released on October 27, 2014 by Iconic Entertainment Group. It contains six tracks of cover songs with conventional and unconventional holiday songs, including a cover of "Silent Night". "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" was released as a promotional single from the EP on September 30, 2014. Critical reception Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the album three out of five stars and gave a mixed review on the album stating that the EP is "a more eccentric holiday album than LeAnn Rimes' What a Wonderful World." He praises Rimes' rendition of "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" and "Blue Christmas" stating "Rimes launches into the 1953 novelty "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" on the second track, then slides into a soulful rendition of "Blue Christmas" after that." but states that these songs the EP "does operate at a slow burn" and that "Somebody at Christmas" and "Hard Candy Christmas" "simmer", while "Carol of the Bells" sparkling perhaps a bit too much, providing a quickening tempo." He concludes his review on a positive note stating that the "decision to play it cool in addition to having a bit of fun makes One Christmas a neat little seasonal treat" Chart performance One Christmas: Chapter 1 peaked at number twenty on the US Top Country Albums chart and number thirty-five on the Top Holiday Albums chart and 172 on the Billboard 200. Track listing Credits and personnel : Credits adapted from liner notes. * Dave Aude - producer, mixing, arrangement * Niko Bolas - recording, mixing, additional recording * Darrel Brown - producer, additional recording, arrangement, percussion, background vocals * Vinnie Colaiuto -drums, percussion * Eric Darken - percussion * Tim Davis - background vocals * Ron Dzuibla - horn * Steve Genewick - assistant recording, assistant mixing * Bob Glaub - bass * Ira Grylack - additional recording * Chandler Harrod - assistant recording, assistant mixing, additional recording * Paul "Jamo" Jamieson - tech man * Steve Jordon - drums * Nick Lane - horn * Joe Napolitano - additional recording * Dean Parks - guitars * Cindi Peters - production coordination * Tim Pierce - guitars * Lowell Reynolds - additional recording * LeAnn Rimes - lead vocals, producer, arrangement, background vocals * Al Schmitt - mixing * Ian Sefchick - mastering * Trombone Shorty - horn * Lee Thornburg - arrangement, horn * Waddy Wachtel - guitars * Willie Weeks - bass * Johnathan Yudkin - strings Charts Weekly Charts Release history Reference Category:Extended play